2018’s Top Ten Children’s Bestsellers at MahoganyBooks

2018’s Top Ten Children’s Bestsellers at MahoganyBooks

#1 – Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison

This beautifully illustrated book introduces readers of all ages to 40 women who changed the world. 

Featuring forty trailblazing black women in American history, Little Leaders educates and inspires as it relates true stories of breaking boundaries and achieving beyond expectations. Illuminating text paired with irresistible illustrations bring to life both iconic and lesser-known female figures of Black history such as abolitionist Sojourner Truth, pilot Bessie Coleman, chemist Alice Ball, politician Shirley Chisholm, mathematician Katherine Johnson, poet Maya Angelou, and filmmaker Julie Dash.

Among these biographies, readers will find heroes, role models, and everyday women who did extraordinary things – bold women whose actions and beliefs contributed to making the world better for generations of girls and women to come. Whether they were putting pen to paper, soaring through the air or speaking up for the rights of others, the women profiled in these pages were all taking a stand against a world that didn’t always accept them. 

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#2 – I’m A Brilliant Little Black Boy by Joshua B. Drummond

Launching THE BBOY COLLECTION / THE I’M A BOY COLLECTION, we introduce “I’M A BRILLIANT LITTLE BLACK BOY!  Finally a gloriously designed and joyful, colorful picture book to celebrate our little Black boys with LOVE!

Meet our newest character, Joshua! He is a little boy who has big dreams and ideas as BRILLIANT as the stars!

With all of his good friends, Joshua’s days are filled with adventures where books, a telescope, a red-superhero cape, rhyming hip-hop verse, twinkling fireflies that light up the magical summer skies above a card board fort in the park― and so much more ― is just what boyhood innocence and imagination is all about.

Kind, smart, creative and always thinking― Joshua learns that through studying, good deeds, working hard and aiming to be brilliant . . . we can really shine!

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#3 – Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

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#4 – I’m a Pretty Little Black Girl by Betty K. Bynum

In this first book in Bynum’s planned I’m a Girl Collection, heroine Mia isn’t lacking in self-esteem: “When I see myself in the mirror, I twirl,/ And I yell, ‘I’m a pretty little black girl!’

I’M A PRETTY LITTLE BLACK GIRL! introduces adorable Mia, who wakes with her hair “just-a-going every which-a-ways!” With her abundant energy and joy leading the way, readers follow Mia as she plays with her friends who are all shades, shapes and sizes.

There’s tall Kia, Keisha the reader, Charlotte her best friend, Dina Rose-Marie the artist, Imani the dancer, Anna who loves sports, Ruby the singer, and honey-haired Tracy.

Mia finds that “Pretty” is within herself and her friends, and being pretty is way beyond what the mirror shows.

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#5 – Black Panther, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A new era begins for the Black Panther! MacArthur Genius and National Book Award-winning writer T-Nehisi Coates (BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME) takes the helm, confronting T’Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda that will make leading the African nation tougher than ever before.

A bold new direction for the Black Panther! For years, T’Challa has fought off invaders from his homeland, protecting Wakanda from everything from meddling governments to long-lost gods. Now, he will discover that Wakanda is much bigger than he ever dreamed…

When a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil. If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt–but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change? Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl!

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#6 – I Am Enough by Grace Byers

I Am Enough is the picture book everyone needs, and it’s now a New York Times bestseller!

A feel-good book about self-acceptance.

This is a gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another–from Empire actor and activist Grace Byers and talented newcomer artist Keturah A. Bobo. A beautifully illustrated, rhyming picture book detailing what one brown-skinned little girl with an impressive Afro appreciates about herself.

This is the perfect gift for mothers and daughters, baby showers, and graduation.

We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it.

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#7 – The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

“Absolutely riveting!” –Jason Reynolds

“This story is necessary. This story is important.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Heartbreakingly topical.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A powerful, in-your-face novel.” —The Horn Book (starred review)

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does–or does not–say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

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#8 – Sasha Savvy Loves To Code by Sasha Altson

“Sasha Savvy Loves to Codeis here to show little girls that they can program computers for fun and profit.” ~ Bustle

“Sasha Savvy Loves to Code is sure to be a huge boost for young girls interested in STEM…”
~ Blavity

Sasha Savvy Loves to Code is an early reader chapter book (ages 7-10). The main character, Sasha Savvy, is a super smart 10-year old African-American girl, who lives in Washington, DC. Sasha must choose which class to take for summer camp. Her mom discovers that the camp is offering a new class for girls on how to code. Sasha thinks this will be boring and doesn’t believe that she is good at computer stuff. Despite this, she decides to give it a chance and convinces her best friends Gabby Reyes and Ashley Webster, to attend the coding camp with her.

Sasha’s mom, a Software Developer, gives her a unique formula to help her remember how to code but will it be enough to get her through a challenging first day of camp with bugs everywhere, computing errors, that is.

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#9 – Miles Morales: Spider Man by Jason Reynolds

“Everyone gets mad at hustlers, especially if you’re on the victim side of the hustle. And Miles knew hustling was in his veins.”

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man.

But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his dad’s advice and focus on saving himself.

As Miles tries to get his school life back on track, he can’t shake the vivid nightmares that continue to haunt him. Nor can he avoid the relentless buzz of his spidey-sense every day in history class, amidst his teacher’s lectures on the historical “benefits” of slavery and the importance of the modern-day prison system. But after his scholarship is threatened, Miles uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk.

It’s time for Miles to suit up.

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#10 – Black Panther, Book 2 by Ta-Nehisi-Coates

Dark times for the Black Panther, as Ta-Nehisi Coates chronicles the final days of the kingdom of Wakanda!

As Zenzi and the People poison Wakanda’s populace against their king, a cabal of nation-breakers is assembled.

With few allies of his own to call on, T’Challa must rely on his elite secret police, the Hatut Zeraze -and fellow Avenger Eden Fesi, a.k.a. Manifold! Meanwhile, Shuri’s spirit journeys through the Djalia…but what awaits her there?

The blockbuster reinvigoration of the Black Panther continues!

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#BlackBooksMatter